The 'Hash'

Dylan and our new friend Myles convinced me that Saturday afternoon's were best spent doing a hash. I had no inclining what this was other than it was a form of exercise and people seemed to love it. Not one to miss out on these opportunities I found myself on the bus, destination Westerhall Rum Factory with my hiking shoes in tow.

When arriving at the factory, Dylan and I were ushered into the 'virgins' group. This team was set up for all the new people to hashing. I still didn't really have a clue what I was getting myself into and listened in anticipation whilst the main guy explained how to follow a paper trail with such commands as 'are you?' and 'on on'. Slightly clueless we decided that we were going to laugh off the running trail and stick with the walkers.

We started up the hill with around a hundred other people, all dressed in red to mark valentines day. There were people of all shapes and sizes ranging from the American student energizer bunny with chihuahua accessory to an obese local lady with a kid strapped to her back. We kept up the pace and continued to look out for the mounds of shredded paper. The trail took us up and down steep inclines and at one point had no choice but to slide down on our bums. We crossed a river with no stepping stones as an aid, I admit that I fell in once and have the bruises now to show for it! Whilst we were progressing with the walker's trail, at times the runners would cross our path, a slight rustle of leaves and a runner would come careering down beside you, knocking you out of the way with no prior signal. Certainly made for an interesting river crossing!

The hash gave us a great opportunity to network with other foreigners and gave us a glimpse of the Grenadian countryside, far away from the tourist spots and cruise ship passengers. The end of the trail was marked with a big drinks hut, stocked to the brim with beers and local rum. They say that 'hashers' are drinkers with a running problem. I tend to agree after seeing the drinking games enforced on certain individuals after the hash in front of all participants. Us 'virgins' had to go and hug each other whilst getting sprayed with beer and then a certificate presented to each of us for 'loosing our virginity'.

A fantastic day out but don't think I will be doing it again, I value my ankles too much!!